During the summer Joel Ibarra announced that he was packing up the Jibarra concept and taking it downtown . Ibarra owns the El Rodeo at Townridge Square, too, and decided to convert the old Jibarra space into a new ‘tweener concept, the El Rodeo Grill. The concept aims squarely at the mid-level of Raleigh’s restaurants, and is likely to do quite well in its niche.

The new decor is a bit more casual, though many of the fixtures from the chic Jibarra remain. Walls have been painted festive reds, oranges, and greens. The menu (.PDF) is short and simple, and features entrees predominantly in the $10-$16 range. Items such as enchiladas, carne asada, and fajitas populate a menu otherwise full of interesting items.

We started out the evening with the queso, which was good; very runny queso fresco with some green chilis mixed in. The roasted corn and poblano soup hit the spot. It is similar to its counterpart at Mez, but gets a little more personality from its peppers.

For entrees, my wife won with the delicious grilled steak tacos. The smoky salsa and guacamole made the steak come alive. I decided to be adventuresome and get the grilled Steak Parrilla (skirt steak and chorizo, and peppers). The steak was of fair quality and the chorizo was good, but overall the meal just overloaded me with fats and left me feeling bleh. In retrospect I should have ordered Camarones al Gusto (seared shrimp in one of three different sauces). I’m definitely looking forward to trying it next time.

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